The present invention relates to managing accounts at banks, retail establishments and other commercial and non-commercial institutions, and more particularly to a system and method for managing transactions in connection with such accounts.
Systems for managing credit card and other financial accounts are in widespread use. These systems have become sophisticated and complex, particularly as consumers become more comfortable with on-line transactions and increase their use of credit cards. Customers now use credit cards, debit cards and similar devices to make purchases, obtain cash advances, check account balances and move cash between accounts. Transactions are conducted at point-of-sale terminals in retail stores, at automated teller machines, and over the Internet using personal computers. Many consumers have established multiple accounts, and in some cases family members each have credit cards and together may be using one or more of those accounts.
One result of the proliferation of credit cards has been the cost, burden and inconvenience of dealing with lost or stolen cards. If several family members are using one account, and one loses his or her card, the account is usually closed (to prevent unauthorized use) and a new account opened with a new card for each family member. The institution issuing the new card has to change its systems to accommodate the new account, and often the cardholders must wait several weeks or more before being able to use the new account.
Also, banks and other institutions want to target customers for special financial services (or other marketing programs) depending, for example, on the extent of use of a credit card. A customer that makes frequent use of credit cards may be a candidate for other financial services offered by the bank. As another example, a customer that uses a credit card to purchase certain types of products may be a good prospect for marketing related products. As a result, banks and other institutions will track patterns of credit card, debit card and ATM card use by cardholders. This becomes difficult, however, if there are several different cardholders using the same account.